The BOADICEA model includes the following assumptions/limitations when it computes contralateral breast cancer risk:
1. Contralateral breast cancer risk is computed using only the following information for the index:
Age at diagnosis of the first breast cancer
Genetic and other risk factors
No other information is considered in predicting contralateral breast cancer risk.
2. The model assumes that only one breast remains at risk.
3. Treatment of the first cancer (in particular hormonal therapy etc) and tumour pathology are important risk factors for contralateral breast cancer. However, these risk factors are not taken into account by the model. For example, systemic treatment is associated with a reduction in contralateral breast cancer risk. This is a limitation of the model which we aim to address in the future.